Storage rack for wine bottles

ABSTRACT

A rack of modular construction wherein the bottle supporting members are of different lengths each having arcuate recesses jointly defining bottle receiving areas when said members are assembled to form a rack. Connectors extend horizontally to securely join horizontally spaced front and rear bottle supporting members with said connectors additionally serving to interconnect additional superimposed bottle supporting members. The bottle supporting members and connectors are in interfitted, secure resting engagement and do not require fasteners. Interfitting areas of the components are uniformly spaced to permit assembly in a wide range of rack designs.

United States Patent [191 Galloway 1 Mar. 11, 1975 STORAGE RACK FOR WINEBOTTLES [76] Inventor: John D. Galloway, Box 523,

Eugene, Oreg. 97401 [22] Filed: June 25, 1973 [2]] Appl. No.: 373,149

D7/71; D44/29 C; 46/20, 26 (U.S.), 30, 28; 248/150; D6/186, 188, 189

[56] References Cited' UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,104,742 l/l938 Fleischer46/28 X 2,238,039 4/1941 De Witt 46/20 2,710,488 6/1955 Schaper 46/20 X2,844,910 7/195'8 Korchak 46/30 X 2,874,512 2/1959 Joseph 46/28 X3,023,890 3/1962 Scholten D34/l5 GG UX FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS1,202,519 8/1970 Great Britain 211/74 1,111,088 10/1955 France ..2ll/74Primary Examiner-Frazier, Roy D. Assistant Examiner-Abraham FrankelAttorney, Agent, or Firm-James D. Givnan, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT A rack of modular construction wherein the bottlesupporting members are'of different lengths each having arcuate recessesjointly defining bottle receiving areas when said members are assembledto form a rack. Connectors extend horizontally to securely joinhorizontally spaced front and rear bottle supporting members with saidconnectors additionally serving to interconnect additional superimposedbottle supporting members. The bottle supporting members and connectorsare in interfitted, secure resting engagement and do not requirefasteners. lnterfitting areas of the components are uniformly spaced topermit assembly in a wide range of rack designs.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures STORAGE RACK FOR WINE BOTTLES BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION The present invention relates to bottle storage racks andmore specifically to a rack adapted for the storage of a varying numberof wine bottles.

Well known in the art are various types of structures, termed wineracks, for the horizontal storage of wine bottles. Such racks, are forthe most part, permanent structures of a fixed design, capable ofstoring a fixed number of bottles. As the number of bottles to be storedvaries from time to time conventionalracks will either be partiallyempty detracting fromtheir appearance or inadequate to store anincreased numer of bottles on hand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The instant wine rack comprises modularcomponents each having design features which permit their assembly intoa wide variety of wine rack structures to suit the individuals personaldesires and space limitations. The modular components in combinationwith connectors therefor are assembled without the use of tools orfasteners by reason of interfitting portions being shaped for securerested engagement with one another. Each modular component is recessedto cradle the bottle and further includes inset wall surfaces spacedtherealong for rigid rested engagement with the connectors.

An important object of the present invention is the provision of a wineor bottle rack the storage capability of which may be'readily varied tocorrespond to the current number of bottles to be stored. The additionor subtraction of components to vary the racks capacity does not requiretools. Further, the present wine rack may be readily disassembled andreassembled in an entirely different configuration for appearance sakeif so desired.

A further important object is the provision of a rack havinginterfltting components in rested engagement yet having a rigi'dnaturecomparable to conventionally constructed racks. Accordingly, the presentrack may be assembled to the height desired within a room without riskof collapse. Interfitting joints of the modular bottle supportingmembers and connectors along with the load supported assure suchrigidity.

A further object of the present rack is the provision of a rack whichmay be constructed in alow cost manner by reason of the racks membersbeing formed from the trimmed ends of finished lumber resulting from asawmill trimming operation. Such lumber is of extremely low costenabling a wine rack of low cost yet one of attractive appearance.

A further important object is the provision of a rack wherein the bottlesupporting members may be assembled in right angular relationship to oneanother for bottle storage in two or more different directions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a bottle rack embodying in atypical arrangement the present invention,

FIG. 2 is an elevational view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged frontal pespective view of one bottle supportingmember of the present rack,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another bottle supporting member of thepresent rack, and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a connector.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS later described connector receivingareas of irregular configuration and also bottle receiving recessedareas.

Each member or module 2 through 4 has identical top and bottom surfacesindicated respectively at 2A through 4A along with end walls at 28through 48.

Each bottle supporting member defines a plurality of bottle cradlingsurfaces at 5, 6 and 7 said surfaces are spaced at uniform intervalsalong members 2 and 3 with the circular areas jointly defined therebybeing of a size to receive an inserted bottle. With attention to FIG. 2it will be seen that the bottle supporting members 2, 3 and 4 are usedin horizontally spaced pairs. the spacing of which is determined by aconnector 8.

Each connector as well as each bottle supporting member is provided withirregular surface areas for mutual engagement in a secure manner toimpart rigidity to an assembled rack regardless of rack height.

Typically shown in FIG. 3 are irregular surface areas at 10 also spacedat uniform intervals along the top and bottom surfaces 2A'through 4Awith said irregular surface areas embodied within perpendicularlyrelated surfaces 11, 12 and, 13. While a specific configuration isdisclosed, it will be understood that the irregular sur face areas maybe otherwise embodied.

With attention directed to FIG. 5, the connector shown therein hasirregular surface areas 14 each defined by connector surfaces 15, 16 and17. Said surfaces are dimensioned so as to enable a snug fit withcorresponding irregular surface areas 10 of the bottle supports'thusproviding a close fitted joint therebetween. The irregular surface areason the bottle supporting members and connectors are of squareconfiguration as viewed in plan view to permit secure rested engagementof bottle supporting members and connectors or engaged bottle supportingmembers disposed at right angles to one another.

With attention to FIG. 1 wherein a typical rack is shown in full lines,the rack may be added to from time to time to provide storage for anincreased number of bottles, a typical addition being shown in dashedlines. In addition to having a capability for the storage of a varyingquantity of bottles, the present rack may be conveniently reassembledinto different configurations for simply appearance purposes or for thepurpose of changing the racks overall dimensions, permitting its beingrelocated in an area of reduced size.

With attention again to FIG. 1, it will be seen that certain bottlesupporting members may be used in place of connectors 8 (upper righthand corner of FIG. 1) and accordingly are in right angular relationshipto adjacent bottle supporting members which permits the present rack tostore bottles in ninety degree orientation to one another. Such afeature permits the rack to The bottle supporting members are preferablyof 5 wood wherein the wood grain, either natural or treated, provides anoverall pleasing appearance to the completed rack. If so desired, themembers may, of course, be painted for the appearance desired.

While I have shown but one embodiment of the invention, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodiedstill otherwise without departing from the spirit and scope ,of theinvention.

Having thus described the invention, what I desire to secure under 21Letters Patent is:

l. A storage rack for wine bottles with the rack being of modularconstruction permitting addition or re moval of rack components toaccommodate a fluctuating number of bottles, said rack comprising,

a plurality of bottle supporting members of different lengths each beingof elongate shape having top and bottom edges, end walls and being ofauniform thickness,

said bottle supporting members having arcuate reces-' ses evenly spacedalong their top and bottom edges todefine bottle receiving areas,

said bottle supporting members additionally having irregularsurface'areas evenly spaced at uniform intervals along their top andbottom edges intermediate each arcuate recess, to permit connector meansdisposed between stacked bottle supporting members to engage theirregular surface areas in the opposing top and bottom surfaces of twoor more vertically spaced bottle supporting members regardless of thediffering length of said members,

connector means joining horizontally spaced bottle supporting membersand having top and bottom edges with irregular surface areas thereon forinterlocking rested engagement with corresponding irregular surfaceareas of the bottle supporting members, said irregular surface areas ofthe connector means spaced apart at the same distance as consec utiveirregular areas on said bottle supporting members, and

said irregular areas on said bottle supporting members and saidconnectors being of square configuration and of the same interval topermit bottle supporting members to rest at right angles upon subja'cent bottle supporting members thereby functioning in a dual manner asconnectors while also permitting bottles to be stored pointing in two ormore mutually perpendicularly related directions.

1. A storage rack for wine bottles with the rack being of modularconstruction permitting addition or removal of rack components toaccommodate a fluctuating number of bottles, said rack comprising, aplurality of bottle supporting members of different lengths each beingof elongate shape having top and bottom edges, end walls and being of auniform thickness, said bottle supporting members having arcuaterecesses evenly spaced along their top and bottom edges to define bottlereceiving areas, said bottle supporting members additionally havingirregular surface areas evenly spaced at uniform intervals along theirtop and bottom edges intermediate each arcuate recess, to permitconnector means disposed between stacked bottle supporting members toengage the irregular surface areas in the opposing top and bottomsurfaces of two or more vertically spaced bottle supporting membersregardless of the differing length of said members, connector meansjoining horizontally spaced bottle supporting members and having top andbottom edges with irregular surface areas thereon for interlockingrested engagement with corresponding irregular surface areas of thebottle supporting members, said irregular surface areas of the connectormeans spaced apart at the same distance as consecutive irregular areason said bottle supporting members, and said irregular areas on saidbottle supporting members and said connectors being of squareconfiguration and of the same interval to permit bottle supportingmembers to rest at right angles upon subjacent bottle supporting membersthereby functioning in a dual manner as connectors while also permittingbottles to be stored pointing in two or more mutually perpendicularlyrelated directions.